Everything You Need to Know About SATA Hard Drives

It's hard to keep up with all the different storage devices. In the tech world, acronyms are everywhere. While abbreviating technical terms and device names saves time, being confused by them is understandable.

Today's acronym is SATA, which stands for Serial Advanced Technology Attachment. You can find this type of hard drive in many common consumer electronics. SATA drives are one of several types of hard drives available today, but there's more to the story.

First, we'll cover the basics of SATA drives, including how they work, why they're used, and how they compare to other standard storage options.

What is a SATA Hard Drive (Definition)

SATA is the connection that's used to transfer data between a hard drive and a processor. In personal computers, laptops, workstations, and sometimes even video game systems, these components are called Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA). Because of Microsoft and Sony, SATA drives can be found on PlayStation 3 and 4s, as well as Xbox 360s and Ones.

SATA devices come in different sizes, depending on their intended use. There are two types of SATA drives, one for desktops and one for laptops. A 3.5-inch hard drive is typically referred to as such. Laptop SATA drives have a smaller form factor than desktop SATA drives.

A laptop's SATA hard drive is usually 2.7 inches in diameter, 0.37 inches high, and 3.96 inches long. They're commonly referred to as 2.5-inch drives.

The History of SATA Hard Drives

Before SATA drives came around, Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA) hard drives were the go-to storage devices for the computer industry. First introduced in 1986, these drives are much slower and larger than modern SATA drives.

SATA 1.0: While PATA hard drives transferred data at speeds between 66 and 133 MBps, SATA drives could transfer data at 150 MBps – six times faster!

SATA Version 2.0: The first SATA disk drive standard was released in 2000 by the Serial ATA Working Group, an industry consortium of leading computer companies.

SATA Version 3.0: According to the Serial ATA International Organization, various iterations of the technology have emerged since, and the system remains as relevant in 2018 as it was in 2000.

Comparison between SATA Hard Drive and SSD Solid State Drive

HDD and SATA SSDs are the most common SATA drives. SATA SSDs and HDDs behave similarly in most respects.

However, they differ significantly in the way they store data. In terms of performance, an HDD with a SATA interface is slightly slower in booting than an SSD, despite having the same SATA transfer rates. These devices typically last three to four years on average, with frequent maintenance issues.

A solid-state drive (SSD) has a lifespan of about ten years, compared to that of a hard-disk drive (HDD), and it boots up and reads and writes much faster.

On the other hand, HDDs are much cheaper than SSDs, with the same storage capacity costing about half as much.

Top 5 SATA Hard Drive Data Recovery Tools

Even if you don't have a backup, the best hard drive data recovery software can help you get your content back. It's possible to recover data from a damaged hard drive by using one of the various available hard drive recovery software solutions.

1. Data Recovery Wizard Tool

Supported operating systems: Mac and Windows

Data Recovery Wizard is a mature and reliable solution whose creators have successfully simplified and made public the complex process of data recovery, making it accessible to everyone. You don't need to read a long manual to understand what every menu item means.

Selecting the storage device to be scanned is the first step in starting the data recovery process with this program. Additionally, you can choose specific folders, like the Recycle Bin. Click “Scan” and wait for the Data Recovery Wizard to find your lost or deleted data.

Advantages

• Simplify data recovery for everyone
• Enable users to sort and filter deleted files
• Deliver reliable data recovery performance

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• Only 2 GB of data can be recovered for free
• Contains both unrecoverable and recoverable files

How to Recover Deleted/Lost Data from SATA Hard Drive

Download and run the Hard Drive Data Recovery software to restore lost files from the hard drive.

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Step 1: Scan the hard drive partition

Select the drive on your hard disk where you lost or deleted the file. Click “Scan” to have the data recovery tool scan all lost data and files on the selected drive.

Select the location and scan the hard drive

Step 2: Check the results

Once the scan is complete, you can use the “Filter” option or click on “Search for a file or folder” to look for the lost files on the hard drive.

Step 3: Recover Lost Hard Drive Data

Select the lost files you need, and click “Recover” to save them to another location.

2. Recuva

Supported Operating Systems: Windows

With Recuva, you can recover lost or deleted photos, audio, files, and videos from your computer's hard drive, memory cards, floppy disks, iPods, MP3 players, and USB flash drives.

While we prefer Recuva, thanks to its affordability, simple interface, and intuitive operation, in my tests it successfully recovered only about two-thirds of the lost data. As a safety net, you should at least try the free version.

If you find what you're looking for, you don't need anything else, but Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery ($79.99 from Stellar) is a good choice for non-technical users, or anyone who prefers the superior performance of Ontrack EasyRecovery with its less-intuitive interface.

Advantages

• Preview screen
• Beautiful and clean interface
• Free version available

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• Limited file recovery possible
• Can be slow or run poorly at times
• May not be very user-friendly

3. TestDisk

Supported operating systems: Windows, Mac, and Linux

If you accidentally deleted an important file and need to get it back quickly, TestDisk is not the tool for the job. Open-source data-recovery software focuses on entire file systems and partitions, not individual files.

It can do a lot to restore access to deleted data, including repairing partition layouts and boot sectors.

TestDisk can recover deleted files from FAT, exFAT, NTFS, and ext2/ext3/ext4 file systems. However, this feature is hidden in the advanced menu and is rarely used by regular users. Also, since you can't preview the data before recovery, using TestDisk to restore single files can be quite cumbersome.

Advantages

• Free and open source
• Support for a wide range of operating systems
• Able to recover various file systems

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• Fixes corrupted partitions and files
• Lacks a graphical user interface

4. stellarinfo.com - Stellar Data Recovery Software

Supported Operating Systems: Windows and Mac

Stellar Data Recovery is a data recovery tool designed for professionals, capable of dealing with unbootable and completely non-functional systems.

This data recovery tool supports the ExFAT and FAT (FAT16/FAT32) file systems. It is also applicable to USB flash drives, memory cards (SD, Micro SD, CF), and other popular storage media.

Advantages

• Convenient preview functionality
• User-friendly interface
• Support for multiple storage devices

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• Prone to hardware failures
• Slow scanning and recovery times
• Relatively expensive

5. R-Studio

Supported operating systems: Windows, Mac, and Linux

R-Studio is more for experts who already have data-recovery skills. It supports file and partition formats, and handles damaged or deleted partitions.

R-Studio eschews the step-by-step approach in favor of letting you launch multiple recovery jobs in separate tabs.

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You can sort the retrieved data by file extension, creation date, and other attributes. Using the built-in hexadecimal analyzer, you can examine the file's quality or perform a partial recovery.

Advantages

• Disk Cleanup feature
• Can be used as a bootable ISO image
• Advanced features for data recovery experts

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• Limited preview options for file formats
• No live scanning results displayed
• Not user-friendly for non-technical users

Conclusions

There is a common misconception that running a disk recovery tool is enough. Not all cases of data loss require professional-grade data recovery tools.

In some cases, you might be able to use built-in features of your operating system to recover your data, such as using hard drive recovery software to restore files after a computer crash or a virus attack. We recommend using a data recovery software, as it is user-friendly and offers unparalleled high-quality features in the market.